Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle
on a thousand hills... Call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
(Psalm 50:10,15)

Greetings from Amsterdam! We’re settling into life in the Netherlands, in just our first week back from three months of home service leave in the United States. We’ve had a lot of unpacking to do, a lot of mail correspondence to catch up on, and a lot of physical adjustment to the six-hour jet-lag (with three small children, this can be quite the ordeal!). But things are starting to come together. The kids’ new school year starts this week: Olivia just starting in Groep 1 (a bit like Kindergarten) and Elliot moving on to Groep 3 (roughly equivalent to the American First Grade). The rest of Dutch society, too, is starting to transition from vacation season to “business as usual.” So now we, too, begin the process of readjusting to “regular” life and ministry—which brings both feelings of satisfaction and sadness (anyone who’s ever been on vacation or a long trip can probably relate to this mixed bag of emotions). So far, everything seems to be going about as well as can be expected. All the same, we would appreciate your continued prayer for our family’s transition. The trans-Atlantic transition can be a tricky thing...

Now that we’re back in the flow, I’ve got a lot to catch up on, in terms of my regular ministry responsibilities: meeting with home group leaders to re-establish our coaching relationships and hear what’s been happening in all the various branches of the church’s family tree… resuming management of GCM’s staff team in Amsterdam… blending back into our home group and other friendships within the church—as well as picking up where things were left off in building relationships with friends outside the church… I’m actually really looking forward to getting back up to speed. I feel like I’ve recently been affirmed by God and by others that we have an important and valuable role to play here in the coming season of life and ministry in Amsterdam. However, that being said, I’m not completely ready to “put on the blinders” and plow ahead into full-time ministry here on this side of the Atlantic Ocean— because of one basic reason:

We haven’t yet secured all of the necessary funding.

The support-raising portion of our home service leave went remarkably well, actually. We succeeded in raising over $1500 in monthly support and over $15,000 in special gifts (which is absolutely incredible for the two months that we invested in this direction this summer!). We’ve seen clearly that God can and will provide for our family. At the same time, we still find ourselves needing approximately $500 in monthly support and $5000 in special gifts. And considering the momentum that was built up this summer, I feel like I have to make sure that these needs are fully met before I can fully commit myself to ministry responsibilities in Amsterdam (there are actually still a few loose ends remaining which I hope will develop into further support). This may mean devoting several hours per week to the telephone and keeping strange hours that will perpetuate the experience of jet lag.  But it’s better than letting all the fund-raising momentum drop now and then having to “crank up the machinery” again just six months from now.

There is, however, another possibility. A possibility that involves you responding to this prayer letter. I’m not usually one for doing the “direct ask” via prayer letter. For one thing, it’s not the most pleasant kind of letter which you, our ministry partners, like to read. And for another thing, it’s not typically the most effective way to raise support! At the same time, I don’t want to vaguely hint at our need (i.e. “please pray for the rest of our support to come in”) without coming straight out and sharing the practical ways that you could help to give us the final nudge that would put us at 100 percent of our support goal.

So here’s my request, my humble plea… and then I promise that I will leave the rest up to God’s Providence and more direct conversation (i.e. over the telephone)—so that future prayer letters can be more about sharing stories and painting pictures of the ministry in Amsterdam that will help you to pray more effectively for us. For this month, though, please read the following, and respond as you feel led:

• If we’ve already talked this summer and settled upon the maximum limit of your giving, then please just realize that we are extremely grateful for everything that you’ve done and are doing for our ministry! From this point, please just pray with us that the rest will come in…
• If you’re currently supporting our ministry but we didn’t get a chance to personally connect this summer (sorry about that!), would you please consider if you might be in a position to increase your giving to GCM, on behalf of our family’s involvement with Zolder50 in Amsterdam? Even if you could increase by just $5 a month or $10 a month, your extra support would be hugely appreciated!
• If you’ve just recently connected with our ministry in Amsterdam—whether through sharing a cup of coffee over the summer or just filling out a contact card somewhere along the way—could it be that you are in a position to financially partner with Great Commission Ministries, to allow us to be involved in full-time ministry in Amsterdam? We have people who give $5 a month, and people who give $500 a month—and pretty much anywhere in between—and we are extremely grateful for each and every part of our ministry team.
• If you’ve been praying with us and for us for awhile (maybe a former supporter, or someone who’s previously given a special gift, or a prayer partner), I’d like to ask for you to specifically pray if God might have you commit to helping with some of our financial need. I don’t arrogantly assume that God would have everyone help us in this way. But I feel confident that God wants to provide for us somehow.

In any event, we would appreciate your prayer support during this period of tying up loose ends and transitioning back into ministry in Amsterdam. If you do feel inclined to help with some of our financial needs, please let me know (a simple two-sentence e-mail response is plenty), and we can dialogue from there! Tot volgende keer (until next time)...

Eric